ITS Pros Recognized Across the State for Their Work, Expertise

By Luciana Chavez Special to Merced College

Everyone at Merced College owes a daily dose of appreciation to the Information Technology Services (ITS) team for keeping the campus’s brain and connective tissue healthy and secure.

The campus doesn’t function without them. Students don’t learn without them. No one here succeeds without them.

The college was thrilled, then, to share that two ITS team members have recently earned kudos for their work and expertise in ways that are bringing recognition and respect to the Merced College name.

Senior Programmer Analyst Sandi Goudy received the 2025 Chief Information Systems Officers Association (CISOA) Technology Excellence Award for her longstanding work shaping a technology platform used in higher education and mentoring others in her field.

Director of Information Security Jagadeesh Reddy Bhimireddy has been appointed to serve on the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) Data Governance Advisory Workgroup (DGAW). Bhimireddy was also appointed for a two-year term to serve on the CISOA Scholarship & Awards Selection Committee.

“Sandi and Jagadeesh stand out because of their deep commitment and expertise,” said Arlis Bortner, the college’s Vice President of Technology and Institutional Effectiveness. “They approach their work with dedication, self-motivation, and a clear understanding of its critical impact on the district. Their skills are highly regarded, not only within Merced College, but among peers across the state.”

These successes serve as powerful endorsements.

“When individuals such as Sandi receive public recognition, Merced College gains more than just a moment of celebration,” Bortner said. “It elevates the college’s visibility and signals to state agencies, peer institutions and industry partners that we cultivate and support excellence here.

“Then when leaders like Jagadeesh serve at the state level, Merced College has a direct voice in shaping policies and standards that guide all California Community Colleges.”

Goudy’s award is also a wonderful valedictory for a professional who has dedicated herself to ITS work.

“I was kind of blown away to receive the award,” Goudy said.

She is scheduled to retire in late December after spending 28 years becoming an expert on Ellucian’s Colleague platform, and after 13 years representing Merced College overall.

The CISOA Scholarship & Awards Committee said it was impressed with Goudy’s thorough knowledge of Colleague, which is software for handling Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)—i.e., managing student information, financial aid, human resources, finance, and more. The committee praised Goudy for the consistent mentorship and support she has given to other ITS professionals across the CCC system.

“I feel like I’m just doing my job,” Goudy said. “Colleague by Ellucian is a widely used platform in higher education in the U.S. When I started, I had help from all kinds of people throughout the country. I have just been paying it back this whole time, and now I got an award for it. I don’t feel deserving.”

Goudy, a lover of puzzles who came naturally to computer science and technology management as a career, has also written code that enhanced how the Colleague system functions, then shared her work all over California.

“I had to share to help others,” Goudy said. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel if we’ve already built the car. The truth is I have learned just as much in my community as I have shared with my community. And I am still learning.”

Bhimireddy, for his part, represents new Merced College leadership in cybersecurity, educational technology and data governance in state circles.

As part of the DGAW with the CCCCO, appointees like Bhimireddy will be standardizing policies for how the 116 state community colleges govern and protect their data.

“Within the CCC system, we hold student and other data in multiple phases, so we’re asking how we govern that data at each phase,” Bhimireddy said. “I’ll be the point of contact for Merced College to raise our issues there.

“The entire system needs data-sharing transparency, and how we do that isn’t yet consistent across CCC. There is no common language, so the standards aren’t fully defined. We’re working on how to democratize how we handle data.”

Bhimireddy grew to love cybersecurity early in his career, gaining experience working for multinational companies in the financial technology and automobile sectors as a young professional in India. He wanted to grow and saw the U.S. as a frontier he wanted to explore.

He moved to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree in cybersecurity at CSU Dominguez Hills. Two years ago he joined Merced College in the director position, a responsibility that includes acting as the chief information security officer.

“In India, I could work on some projects, but I would never have a way to work on the biggest challenges in technology and information systems unless I was physically located in the U.S.,” Bhimireddy said. “I wanted to grow as a leader, so I came here.”

After two years on the job, Bhimireddy is most proud of the work the college has done in leveraging more automation and AI-based tools to defend the campus network.

Bhimireddy will also be helping CISOA recognize achievers in the field as part of the scholarship and awards committee. He also serves as the Educause ambassador at Merced College; Educause is a national nonprofit supporting the tech community in higher education.

“It’s always good to get recognized; it motivates you to do more,” Bhimireddy said. “I seek that out. It puts pressure on me, too, but in a good way. The responsibility is on me, but I’m representing Merced College, so I’m not alone.”

In another sign of the ITS team’s expertise, Help Desk Technician Michael Lara will present a workshop on “Colleague UI Basics” to a state audience at the upcoming 4CUG (California Community Colleges Colleague User Group) Virtual Conference in October.

The accomplishments of the ITS group at Merced College are having “a powerful impact on campus,” Bortner said.

“They affirm the value of the work being done by ITS and related departments. It’s boosting morale and reinforcing a culture of innovation, collaboration and pride within Merced College.”